Ticket vending machines for example those manufactured by Gtech Corporation of Rhode Island (previously under the name Interlott Technologies Inc of Cincinnati, Ohio) Pollard Banknote Limited of Winnipeg Canada (previously under the name American Games Inc. of Council Bluffs, Iowa) generally include an exterior housing which contains and secures the tickets and payment receptacle and which is accessible by customers for actuating switches on the housing for dispensing selected lottery tickets.
The lottery tickets are contained within separate containers within the housing each of which has a dispensing unit operable to dispense a ticket from a selected container in response to the actuation of the switches by the customer.
The control of the dispensing is effected by a control unit within the housing which is responsive to the actuation of the switches by the customers and responsive to the receipt of payment from the customers for dispensing the tickets.
Instant win lottery tickets can be provided either as scratch-off tickets or as pull tab (otherwise known as break-open) tickets. While the two above types of tickets are different in many respects both in regard to the manner of manufacture and in regard to methods of validation and control, the present invention is intended to be directed to both types of lottery tickets and the term “lottery ticket” as used herein is intended to cover both types and other types of lottery tickets which require dispensing in the same or similar manner as the above types.
Generally lottery tickets of the scratch off type are manufactured in a continuous strip which is then fan-folded for convenient supply. Generally break open type tickets are manufactured in individual ticket pieces which are then formed into a stack and dispensed one at a time from the bottom of the stack.
Machines for dispensing scratch off type tickets in fan folded form and machines for dispensing break open type tickets in stacked form have been available for many years. The construction, arrangement and operation of these machines is well known to one skilled in the art and is incorporated herein by reference.
In addition specific arrangements of dispensing arrangement proposed for use in a dispenser for the fan folded scratch off tickets are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,714,838 (Scrymgeour) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,253 (Hargrave) which are commonly owned with this application. The first of these shows an arrangement for entering data concerning the book of tickets to be introduced into the machine for dispensing by the machine and the second shows a dispensing arrangement for feeding an upper end of the strip of tickets to a feed system which acts to burst the perforations between each ticket and the next as each ticket is dispensed in turn. The construction and arrangement of these dispensing devices is incorporated herein by reference.
The dispensing machines are generally maintained on the premises of a retailer so that the retailer is charged with the responsibility of filling the containers as necessary to maintain a continuous supply without shortages which would potentially reduce sales. It is necessary therefore for the containers to be refilled on a periodic basis, either shortly after a container has become empty or in order to anticipate the container becoming empty. The service person therefore is required to check the inventory of a container and to top up the supply within each container which may be empty or approaching empty.
The apparatus includes a control unit which monitors the inventory and controls the dispensing of the tickets in response to the manual actuation of the switches by the customers and in response to the submission of suitable payment by the customers.
Furthermore the control unit controls the operation of the dispensing unit of each container so as to forward the ticket to be dispensed to the required dispensing location. In regard to the scratch off type tickets which are generally supplied in a continuous strip, it is generally desirable to effect a bursting of the perforations between each ticket and the next so as to allow an individual ticket to be dispensed into a chute. This avoids any possibility of a customer improperly tearing a ticket or being able to pull an extended number of tickets from the supply. In order to effect the bursting action, it is necessary for the dispensing unit to have information concerning the length of the ticket from its leading edge at the previous perforation line to the trailing edge at the next perforation line so as to move the perforation line to the bursting position and so as to dispense the ticket. In regard to the break open type tickets which are conventionally supplied in individual ticket form, it is also necessary for the control unit to have information concerning the length of the ticket in order to ensure that the ticket is properly dispensed.
The marketing of lottery ticket involves generating attractive tickets of different game types to successfully convince the customer to purchase the particular game.
In addition it is conventional to supply to the customers a selection of tickets of different prices so the customer may choose particular tickets not only based upon the attractiveness of the game but also upon the amount of money which the customer chooses to pay.
In order to provide the customer with an appealing array of tickets from which to purchase, the dispensing machine generally although not necessarily includes a number of containers which can vary depending upon the particular size of dispensing machine required for example from 12 dispensing containers up to 24 dispensing containers. Each container generally therefore will be filled with a different game for selection by the customers. Generally the game selection remains constant so that it is necessary only for the service person to maintain the containers properly filled by adding into each container a fresh supply of the tickets associated with that container. However in addition it also necessary on occasion to change the game associated with a respective container when older games are cancelled and new games are brought in to replace those older games. Lotteries release 50 to 80 new tickets per year and they want all of them to be in the ITVM while on sale in the marketplace, so the service reps will have to “change out” some containers or bins every few weeks.
The dispensing machine also should provide attractive graphics and information which assist in informing the customer of the games available and assist in completing the sale of such tickets. It is known therefore to provide a video screen on the machine which provides information on the tickets available. Commonly such screens are of the “touch screen” type so that the customer makes a selection and purchase by touching the graphic of the ticket selected. An example of a machine of this type which is proposed as one alternative for use with lottery tickets is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,417 (Wilder) issued Apr. 18th, 1995.
An early example of a vending machine for lottery tickets which suggested the incorporation of a screen is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,624 (Burr) issued Jun. 29th, 1993 where there is proposed that the tickets be displayed on a screen as an array of the tickets available. This proposal was suggested in replacement for the main proposal of the patent where the tickets themselves are visible through windows in the front of the housing. The display is thus limited to the array of tickets available and even suggests that the ticket of the array which is selected for dispensing have the graphic thereof move to simulate the dispensing.